The invention relates to a device for processing photographic materials and comprising at leas% one tank filled with liquid and means for substantially removing the liquid from the photographic material leaving the tank.
During photographic processing, the photographic material (films or paper) undergoes a multi-step process, e.g. developing, washing, bleaching, washing, fixing, washing, stabilising, drying or developing, fixing, washing and drying.
In order substantially to remove adhering water before the photographic material dries, the original method was to use "wipers". This accelerates the drying process and saves the energy which would be needed to evaporate the adhering water.
Occasionally these wipers are also used before and after the individual processing steps, in order to reduce the entrainment of solutions. The aforementioned purposes are served e.g. by rubber lips, which strip the photographic material on one or both sides.
In other known devices, the liquid adhering to the surface is blown away by compressed air. Another method is suction under reduced pressure.
Production of negative pressure is relatively complicated technically, whereas compressed air is simple to use but has the disadvantage that the chemical solutions are finely atomised and penetrate to places where undesirable crystal residues are left after the liquid evaporates.
Another disadvantage of rubber lips is that after prolonged use on material having a given width, they become more extensively worn at the edges than in the middle, and consequently when the format is changed they do not operate uniformly over the entire width of material. They therefore frequently have to be replaced.
Squeeze rollers, through which the photographic material is conveyed under pressure, are also frequently used in photography. Of course, however, they can damage the sensitive gelatine layers, thus impairing the quality of the photograph.